VFW post names hall after Marine

Sunday

Forty-one years ago, a Taftville man was killed by small arms fire while serving as a Marine in the Vietnam War.

On Saturday, the memories of his life came flooding back for friends and family as the Frederick J. Sullivan Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 2212 dedicated the event hall to James L. “Jimmy” Greene.

Forty-one years ago, a Taftville man was killed by small arms fire while serving as a Marine in the Vietnam War.

On Saturday, the memories of his life came flooding back for friends and family as the Frederick J. Sullivan Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 2212 dedicated the event hall to James L. “Jimmy” Greene.

“This will allow our friend to always be in our presence,” said Dennis Baptiste, senior vice commander of the post, as a portrait of Greene was unveiled.

When Greene enlisted, nine others from Norwich decided to join him in the Marines, Baptiste said, emphasizing the theme of home and friends in telling Greene’s story.

Greene’s niece Dawn Wadja, 19, of Griswold said her mother — Greene’s younger sister — looked up to her brother before he died and kept a portrait of him up at her house.

Wadja heard about her uncle from time to time as she grew up, but the silent story of his sacrifice endured, helping to create “a deep respect” in her for the military.

Greene’s brother, Randy, 55, of Norwich also attended the event.

“It was the Marines or nothing for him,” he said after the ceremony.

A portrait of Greene in uniform hangs at the entryway of Wequonnoc Elementary School, where he was a student.

Albert Wojtcuk, former principal of the school for 50 years, said Greene was a respectful student even if he did get in occasional trouble with his teachers.

Wojtcuk said the last time he saw Greene was the day Greene visited the school after completing boot camp.

“He was dressed in blue,” Wojtcuk said. “He knocked the socks off everybody. He looked fantastic.”

Keynote speaker Rob Simmons, a U.S. Senate candidate whose military career included a tour as an Army infantry officer in Vietnam, said when the nation defends itself from foreign threats, it sends its very best — not mercenaries, not just tax dollars, not just technology, not just equipment, but “young men just like Jimmy.”

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